Yelp is becoming increasingly competitive as a playground for local and international businesses alike.

Having your business featured on Yelp can sometimes seem like an impossible task. The competition might be fierce and unrelenting in the efforts to push for the number one spot on Yelp.

Yelp is becoming increasingly competitive as a playground for local and international businesses alike. The service is featured on both Google’s and Yahoo’s search engines respectively anytime you look for local establishments. So, how can you be found easily by relevant customers without relying on paid marketing to do so?

Formulate Your Business’s Page

To claim your Yelp listing is the first thing you should do and the most important part of promoting your establishment. It will take more than positive testimonials and word of mouth if you want to reach new customers using Yelp. Listing works by pushing businesses up with positive reviews and regards while letting others sit on the sidelines.

Yelp does this not only by gauging the review scores against each other. But also by the amount of information that particular business’s page contains. For example, if you are missing some essential information, like contact number, address or an email, Yelp’s algorithm will treat this negatively.

Getting good free promotion on Yelp is often the matter of filling out your business’s information page. The better you do this, the more public knowledge you will get. You don’t need to employ a writer to fill out information such as website details, business services, and staff information. Do it on your own. It’s easy and worth every minute spent.

Use Visual and Written Content

To get the best review out of your customers will require a certain level of dedication on your part. Quality photos of your establishment, products and services you have on offer are essential, in order to promote your business successfully on Yelp.

The point of the site is to promote local businesses that are of higher quality than their contemporaries. Moreover, you can show this is true for your own establishment through quality visual content. Posting your menus and deals is also a good way to attract new customers, who are looking for bargain deals on Yelp.

It’s also important to include some pictures of your exterior. Since people often face difficulties when they look for some company on the street. Don’t underestimate the significance of quality photographs on your Yelp profile. Of course, if you want to promote your business to its fullest.

Asking for and Responding to Reviews

Yelp doesn’t encourage you to ask people for reviews. However, it’s a good practice to remind people that your business benefits from positive reviews. Some people make it a habit to include reviews as soon as they are done with the stay at your establishment, while others might not even be aware of Yelp and your presence on it.

You really don’t need brain yoga to understand how a potential client thinks, although it never hurts, you must be consistent in your actions. Give your customers a hint that you do have a page on Yelp that they should check out. If they are satisfied with the care you provided, they will write a few words about you. To see how reviews should look like in regards to your business, you can check out some faithful reviews. Responding to these reviews in a timely manner will bump your business up in Yelp’s eyes. And gives you more exposure than before.

Never ignore the reviews your customers leave even if you are not satisfied with their writing or language. Any comment you are able to get on Yelp will work in your favor when it comes to developing the business further.

Using Yelp Metrics

Yelp is also known for tracking important stats with an internal onsite algorithm. You can refer to this metric anytime you want to know more about how your business is doing compared to others in your field. Keep in mind, that these stats are compiled by an autonomous algorithm and there is always room for error.

By the way, this is a great way to get free, numerical statistics about your Yelp activities over the past several months or years. You’re lucky to get such useful information, almost unheard of in today’s age. So, make sure that you use these metrics to their fullest.

Implementing Customer Feedback

The best way to utilize Yelp and the reviews your customers leave is by implementing their feedback into your day-to-day activities. For example, if your customers are dissatisfied with your establishment, why not fix those problems? Those same customers might come back soon and change their perspective on your establishment, fixing the review on Yelp in the process.

While it is sometimes difficult, Yelp is always encouraging the possibility to act upon online reviews. This will show the site and future customers that you do care about what others think of your establishment.

Use every opportunity to implement new ideas and fix errors in your business model that customers simply don’t like in mass. Something that is good to you others can find horrible. So be as objective and forthcoming as possible. Yelp will gladly increase your ranking and give your establishment a boost. But customers, who initially wrote them should fix their review scores and/or give a new positive feedback.

In summation

Using Yelp as the only form of promotion for your establishment is a risky venture. However, that can bear fruit if you are persistent enough. Keep in mind, that you will always have to worry about your competition, and be on the lookout for new features in the business.

Always implement trending new products and features in your establishment to make you sure that you stay relevant on Yelp as long as possible. This will ensure that you are found easily on the site by potential new customers looking into establishments in your niche.

Article written by: John Unger